andyfreelandy
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Looks good. Also looks to be a straight forward fix. What is it like underneath? I'm seeing more and more with rusted fuel tank cradles and brake pipes. Lucky I've got my new flare tool!!
Putting an insurance cat N 1.8 XEi back on the road, (Project Tonga 1.8 XEi).
- Thread starter Nodge68
- Start date
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Bumpers and lights are easy. The towing eye will take some work though, as it's very sturdy the way it's mounted. I might need to crack out the spot weld dril a large hammer and the welder, so I can restore it to its former shape.
Very good. Better than my current SE. The tank cradle is much less rusty, as are the chassis rails and outriggers.
Bodily it's a definite improvement on my SE. It's just minus loads of goodies, that come standard on the SE.
kernowsvenski
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- Truro
I see Roger Young on the spare wheel cover. Is it local?
It's got a WF prefix on the plate, so I assumed it is local ish.
Ok, so it's been a while since I got the V5 for this FL1 facelift. Unfortunately I've been tied up with other projects, but have finally made a start to get it back on the road.
Today's job was to replace the old and split coolant header tank,
with a shiny new £14 one from Ebay.
Looking at the large lower pipe routing, I'm assuming it's had some work (maybe the HG?), as the pipe wasn't clipped to the inner wing, and routed over the PS pump feed pipe, rather than under it.
The pipe routing was corrected, while I was replacing the header tank.
The next job was to sort out the bent tow hoop. This took a fair amount of leverage and thumping with a 2Lb club hammer and suitable drift.
First I removed the tow hoop
Then persuaded the bent hoop mounting back to where it should be. It's still distorted on the side plate, but at least it's now in the correct position.
Next I cleaned up the surface, and sprayed a good coating of Waxoyl undersealer.
Before bolting the hoop back into place and giving it a nice coating of stone chip paint.
I also removed the single bolt that was retaining the broken 1/4 bumper, so I could remove the broken headlight unit.
I plan to stick the bumper back together with epoxy glue, but I need the weather to be dry for that.
I left the engine idling while I did the tow hoop, which ment it was running for a good couple of hours. This made the interior toasty warm, and proved the cooling system to be functional and leak free.
That's where I've left it for now.
Next up will be the headlight replacement, and bumper repairs.
Today's job was to replace the old and split coolant header tank,
Looking at the large lower pipe routing, I'm assuming it's had some work (maybe the HG?), as the pipe wasn't clipped to the inner wing, and routed over the PS pump feed pipe, rather than under it.
The pipe routing was corrected, while I was replacing the header tank.
The next job was to sort out the bent tow hoop. This took a fair amount of leverage and thumping with a 2Lb club hammer and suitable drift.
First I removed the tow hoop
Then persuaded the bent hoop mounting back to where it should be. It's still distorted on the side plate, but at least it's now in the correct position.
Next I cleaned up the surface, and sprayed a good coating of Waxoyl undersealer.
Before bolting the hoop back into place and giving it a nice coating of stone chip paint.
I also removed the single bolt that was retaining the broken 1/4 bumper, so I could remove the broken headlight unit.
I plan to stick the bumper back together with epoxy glue, but I need the weather to be dry for that.
I left the engine idling while I did the tow hoop, which ment it was running for a good couple of hours. This made the interior toasty warm, and proved the cooling system to be functional and leak free.
That's where I've left it for now.
Next up will be the headlight replacement, and bumper repairs.
kernowsvenski
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- 1,611
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- Truro
If you need an extra pair of hands for any two man jobs on it let me know. Can pop over for a few hours sometime.
Thanks for the offer.
If I need help, I'll let you know. I should be OK as I'm used to working on my own. I even changed the engine on my V6 FL1 single handed, so should be able to do anything on baby 1.8. 
Nice job, and the car looks amazingly straight and sound
Working on the K Freelander is such a pleasant experience: everything is pretty easy to get to.
Glad you replaced that header tank: that looked like a head gasket failure waiting to happen...
Working on the K Freelander is such a pleasant experience: everything is pretty easy to get to.
Glad you replaced that header tank: that looked like a head gasket failure waiting to happen...
It is pretty good. It's actually in better condition than my SE, and less complicated to maintain.
I think it's had the HG done, as some of the pipe routing isn't correct, but easily sorted.
Unfortunately it's got 4 dead tyres and a slightly damaged driver's seat, and an exhaust blow, but otherwise it's in nice condition, and only has 113K on the clock.
It's a very quiet engine. Unfortunately it came without any history, so I've no idea what was done and when. I'm thinking of doing the belts and the water pump. It's got a PRT stat, so no messing with the normal stat, unless an O ring is leaking. It's got the MIL on at the moment, the code is flagging a cam sensor, which is odd as it starts on the button.
Yes, but I'll need to keep within a strict budget, as it's not really worth much to anyone else, should I want to sell it on.
I'll be putting this one on the road, on the cheap.
Alibro
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- Northern Ireland
Funny you say that I actually found some jobs were easier on the MGF then the Freelander.Nice job, and the car looks amazingly straight and sound
Working on the K Freelander is such a pleasant experience: everything is pretty easy to get to.
Glad you replaced that header tank: that looked like a head gasket failure waiting to happen...
But not many.
The worst expense on these cars for us auld farts is the tax.It's a very quiet engine. Unfortunately it came without any history, so I've no idea what was done and when. I'm thinking of doing the belts and the water pump. It's got a PRT stat, so no messing with the normal stat, unless an O ring is leaking. It's got the MIL on at the moment, the code is flagging a cam sensor, which is odd as it starts on the button.
Yes, but I'll need to keep within a strict budget, as it's not really worth much to anyone else, should I want to sell it on.
I'll be putting this one on the road, on the cheap.
Doing the thermostat on F is pretty easy. The main issue with the 1.8 FL1, is the engine is so low in the body, meaning you have to bend double to access most things.
It is. The tax for this 1.8 is almost double the insurance costs.
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That is true - the MGF generally seems to be well designed to make most maintenance tasks pretty straightforward despite the engine being in the middle of the car. Once you have the engine cover off, or the road wheels and respective covers removed, most things "fall to hand"Funny you say that I actually found some jobs were easier on the MGF then the Freelander.
But not many.
It is. The tax for this 1.8 is almost double the insurance costs.
I almost spat out my tea when I got the renewal notice this week: I think the politicians are attempting to price old cars off the road
The FL1 is cheap to tax compared to larger LRs like the Discovery 4 and Range Rovers. Those are silly money to tax now.
Indeed. I can see this high road tax making the expensive LRs cheaper to buy in the future, but I'd still not be happy to pay 3 or 4 times the insurance costs on road tax.
Today started to paint the replacement rear bumper corner panel.
I keyed the previous Java Black paint, and sprayed on 3 coats of grey primer. This will need gentle flatting, before I can spray the Tonga Green base coat. Although I'm going to need to warm up my workshop, before I attempt to paint the clear coat.
I keyed the previous Java Black paint, and sprayed on 3 coats of grey primer. This will need gentle flatting, before I can spray the Tonga Green base coat. Although I'm going to need to warm up my workshop, before I attempt to paint the clear coat.
Over the last couple of days, I've been continuing to paint the offside rear bumper corner. After many coats of colour, lots of flatting in between and several clear coats, I've finally got to the stage where I need to polish it to a high shine. I have however discovered an issue. The bloody paint I ordered is slightly off the colour of the car!! The new panel, although painted correctly, has less metallic particles, and is more conifer green than olive green. I ordered the paint by paint code, and shook the can for more than the recommended 2 minutes, probably closer to 5 minutes.
I'm reluctant to do the whole painting process again, as it takes so damn long, so I might just polish it up and slap it on.
I've had a change of plan now anyway. Having been unable to sell my TD4 SE for what I wanted (people are being put off by the gearbox issue) I've decided to keep the SE and sell the 1.8 K series XEi instead. Not having much wrong with it will mean it'll sell quickly, for about the same money as I was asking for the SE. As a slight colour variation on the rear corner bumper won't make much difference to its value, that's the plan from now on. At least until I change my mind again.
The new panel, although painted correctly, has less metallic particles, and is more conifer green than olive green. I ordered the paint by paint code, and shook the can for more than the recommended 2 minutes, probably closer to 5 minutes.I'm reluctant to do the whole painting process again, as it takes so damn long, so I might just polish it up and slap it on.
I've had a change of plan now anyway. Having been unable to sell my TD4 SE for what I wanted (people are being put off by the gearbox issue) I've decided to keep the SE and sell the 1.8 K series XEi instead. Not having much wrong with it will mean it'll sell quickly, for about the same money as I was asking for the SE. As a slight colour variation on the rear corner bumper won't make much difference to its value, that's the plan from now on. At least until I change my mind again.
